Word-Bridging Distance

I'm feeling homesick for Botswana (a country), so here's a taste of poetry from Africa,(a continent) along with a place to find more. Isn't it sad that I perceived a need to delineate between a country and a continent? It's sad for me and it's sad for the people who have posed questions that made me see that need. Nobody thinks that Europe is a single country . . . but many people believe that all American states are identical.

We (humans) are very strange, needlessly complex, and uselessly simplistic. I (one human) am homesick for a country in which I have spent too little time. That, too, is a cause for sorrow.

Always There
Oliver Mbamara

I am like Orji, the iroko tree
I have seen winds and waves
I have stood the storms and thunder,
Yet, at my feet lies Onu-iyi-ama
The little lovely lake of spring,
Where sits a swimming pool for kids.
Everyday, I see kids come and go,
Happy that they can swim and play.

I am like Duru-ejowe's rock, yes!
I am like the rock of Gibraltar
I have seen the harshest weathers
And the wildest beasts of the jungle,
Yet, at my feet flows the cleanest water,
And everyday, many in need do come,
To Stoop and fetch my gifts of spring
Happy that enough does flow for all.

I am like Ala, the earth, yes!
I am the ground on which you stand.
I carry all that is placed on me,
Yet, I bother no one to carry me.
You may try to run the best you can,
A mile or two or a nation far,
I am, and will be there under your feet.
Happy despite your march and pounds.

I am like Ugbua, the moment now.
I have seen the past meet the future,
I have seen ages come and go, and
Generations of people born and die.
In me, on me, events take their place.
Yes! I am what time is to change,
I am ageless as well as timeless,
And surely too, I am always there.